Month: January 2017

Although Junkies Coffee Co. doesn’t have a plentiful product line, I feel like they’re still a noteworthy company that deserves your consideration. When it comes to what they sell, things aren’t what they seem. Instead of having a full stock of many different types of coffee complete with creative names and fancy packaging, they have a choice where you can customize your chosen bag of beans from start to finish. You have the ability to pick what roast you want as well as the flavor that’s infused into it. Once you’re done, you can throw a name on the bag to add that extra personal touch.

If developing your own beams isn’t your cup of tea (no pun intended), Junkies Coffee Co. also carries an Urban Roast, which is akin to a regular House Blend. You might think referring to a type of coffee as regular is an insult. On the contrary, from time to time, you will want to go back to basics. There’s so much great coffee out there that it’s easy to get lost and have a hard time seeing the forest through the trees. Junkies Coffee’s Urban Roast is bold and it’s difficult to not want more of it when you start drinking.

I look forward to when Junkies Coffee Co. adds additional options to their customizable coffee product. I love it when companies put all the decision making into the hands of their customers. I have no problem with other companies who work to provide a well-rounded lineup of products. I get the appeal of not having to think about what goes into the coffee you’re ordering. Many coffee drinkers want their coffee and care very little about the schematics of what went on to create it. The people who like the norm should think about the benefits of having more control over this arrangement.

The average coffee consumer might not want to go through all the trouble of customizing their coffee, but really they should. With a process as simple as what Junkies Coffee brings to the table, you can’t go wrong. It’s to like you have to experience the coffee equivalent of putting together a piece of IKEA furniture. The wonderful people who work for this organization are there to take care of you. That’s really the most important thing for people who are looking for a coffee company. The warm potion in your mug is like a hug when it’s produced by a company that puts love into every bean. Junkies Coffee does that and more.

Buon Giorno Coffee knows how to make a wonderful cup of coffee. Normally, I am able to develop some sort of idea of what a company is about from how they present themselves to the public. I was never able to get any sort of clue of what this company had to bring to the table. I could tell that they made a good cup of coffee based on the information I could get my hands on. Writing to them to establish some sort of relationship was a no brainer. The resulting correspondence was as friendly as the product I received was impressive.

In order for a coffee to have a lasting impression on me, I need to be able to incorporate it into my life. I can’t sample it in the frivolous style of cupping or by putting a little bit of it in my mouth and spitting it out. I disagree with these methods because they present an aloof idea of how coffee is consumed. I never understand why coffee reviews can’t just drink the stuff. Approaching this activity any other way makes replicating a reviewer’s result practically impossible. There’s no reason why a reviewer whose intention is to address all coffee drinkers should anything other than tell the truth about what they’re reviewing.

I think Buon Giorno Coffee needs to be bolder in how it presents itself to the world. The quality of their product would back up any claims that they might make. I enjoy working with these companies because they have a relatable quality to them. While their corporate counterparts are not approachable in the slightest, they have a keen awareness of the importance of staying humble. You can learn a lot from organizations that want nothing more than to give their customers a quality experience while also remaining accessible.

You will have a hard time dipping your toes into the specialty coffee market and come out the other end with your wallet intact. Buon Giorno Coffee serves as a welcome departure from all the other companies that gouge their customers. Their line of products is exceptional from the first item to the last. You could pick any one of them out of the lineup and get something that you will truly enjoy. Companies that provide value priced coffee usually give their customers what they pay for. In the case of Buon Giorno Coffee, each consumer’s investment is worth its weight in gold.

If tea from Harney & Sons Fine Teas were a car, it would one of those elegant, solid as a rock rides from times gone by.

Those of you who think that tea is just tea and everyone produces it the same way need to open their minds to what true artistry is all about.

To say that tea from Harney & Sons is excellent is an understatement. They put so much time into their products that the greatness of what they put forth should not be questioned.

I’ve often railed against the ill advised decision to purchase pennies on the dollar swill from the resident corporate juggernaut presiding over an industry. This is no exception.

I realize that you can get tea for pennies on the dollar. I recognize that household budgets aren’t what they used to be. At the same time, I implore you to get tea from a company that cares about you. If you think that the corporations care about you, try getting someone on the phone at their headquarters. Good luck!

Harney & Sons is a cut above the rest. Their master tea craftsmen are hard at work on new blends all the time. That’s when they’re not continuing their efforts to improve what’s already in their repertoire. You can’t beat that level of dedication.

The terms that reviewers of products such as these have their limitations. That’s why I don’t use them. I believe the reader can derive more from experiential evidence than the nonsensical displays of so called experts showing off how much jargon they can pack into an article that will lose people after the first sentence.

My input comes down to the product itself and the value it has to the average consumer. In the case of Harney & Sons, their products are worth their weight in gold. Sure, they don’t have the most colorful packaging. That’s okay. The tea I tried is reminiscent of an earlier time. They have more colorful products in their inventory. I just wasn’t able to try them.

Aesthetics are irrelevant if the product is not good. The tea from Harney & Sons could be delivered in a plastic gallon bag and I would still love it.

When your faced with quality, you have to bow down in respect. Although you can’t see me right now, I assure you I’m bowing to Harney & Sons.

Coffee from Coffee by the Roast is an experience and I didn’t even scratch the surface while I was sampling what they had to offer. To be sure, I had the opportunity to try many of their varieties, but they do something interesting that makes each bag of coffee different, even if you order the same type of coffee more than once. They customize every order to ensure that it meets the needs of the people drinking their coffee. I chose dark roast across the board because that’s my favorite roast level. I would do differently if I were to have an opportunity to try their coffee again.

I know that if I lived near Coffee by the Roast’s headquarters, they would have a hard time keeping me from coming by every day. I had some trepidation about their offerings when I first saw their selection. Other companies with similar inventories fall short because the depth of their repertoire leaves a lot to be desired. They pack their cabinets with so many different products that their supposed focus on quality becomes fractured. The variety they claim to offer their customers is nothing more than an illusion they use to get additional attention.

That’s not something people will have to worry about with Coffee by the Roast. Their dedication to quality is strong. You could order every product they offer and get a truckload of wonderful coffee beans. I came to this company with an ambitious vision. Not only did they deliver on what I requested. They did so in a way that made it seem like they were my friends, even though we had just met. I know that they will take the same high level of consideration and apply it to you or whoever decides to order their coffee.

As I end this review, I’m filled with a familiar sensation of dread. This feeling comes over me whenever I review companies I love. I have no doubt that I will revisit Coffee by the Roast at some point in the future. Their coffee has stuck prominently in my mind, even though it’s no longer a fixture in my cupboards because I ran out. Who knows. Perhaps there’s a bag or two lying around here somewhere. The experience I’ve had drinking their coffee makes the effort I’ll put in to search for it that much more worth it. Wish me luck.

Fresh Roasted Coffee is a company I like to revisit from time to time. During my first interaction with them, things kind of went off the rails. They sent me some of their best and boldest. I took longer to review their products than I probably should have. I finally produced something about which I was happy. I sent it to them because I felt like they were owed that consideration. I received no reply, making me think that was the end of that chapter. Shortly after that time, I stopped writing about coffee; however, I never stopped trying to make amends with them.

Upon restarting my journey into the world of coffee, I wrote another article detailing what had transpired. I published the new article along with the original review, which had gone unpublished since it’s completion. I wrote to Fresh Roasted Coffee in the hopes that this overt gesture would make a difference. It didn’t. After additional attempts to make contact, I got on the phone and decided it was time to call them. I normally don’t contact companies this way. I made an exception here because I wanted to have more of this company in my life.

The conversation that transpired was awkward, but not entirely unpleasant. The individual I spoke to remembered me. His memories were not positive. I outlined the misunderstanding that was afoot. It seemed like they were coming over to my side. We ended the conversation on an amicable note. They said that they would think about working with me further. I emailed them links to my post as promised. I received no reply. I made no subsequent attempts to contact them via email or otherwise. I still can’t help but feel like there’s some unfinished business here.

I’m a person who likes to write about a topic until there’s nothing left to say. This is one of those topics. I want to cover every company comprehensively. I recognize the companies that are evolving with each passing day. I want to be part of their evolution. My content reflects what a company is doing during the time in which it’s written. It loses its relevance as time goes on. I do my best to write the most timely content possible. In doing so, I unconsciously embed it with an expiration date. My review of Fresh Roasted Coffee has expired. I want to write a new one.

A lot of people want to lose weight, but they don’t want to put in the work needed to reach their goal. They have a number in mind and want to get to it immediately. This impatience and the traumatic nature of being overweight for an extended period creates a crop of opportunists who are eager to prey on people who desperately want to be thin. You would think that the coffee industry would be free of these vultures. You would be wrong. There’s a thriving pyramid scheme like Organo Gold that centers on selling slim quick varieties of coffee.

Unfortunately, there’s no magic pill for losing weight. The solution is simple though. You just need to eat less and move around more. If eating less isn’t your thing, you have to move around enough to counteract what you’re consuming. The problem with this is that exercising is hard and it’s so much easier to gain weight than it is to lose it. This is where the opportunists come in. They present a product that seems to be too good to be true (because it is). We want to lose weight so bad that we take the bait.

Before you choose a product, whether it’s coffee or anything else, you need to do your research. Never take anyone at their word, especially if they’re making their claims on the internet. As the consumer, you have the power. Your decision to purchase or avoid a product will determine its continued existence. Granted, there are some products that are not as easily swayed by the whims of an individual. If enough people express their disgust, the winds of change start roaring. All it takes is for one person to stand up and say they’ve had enough. Perhaps that person is you.

You don’t have to tolerate a company that says you will lose weight just because you drink their product. Don’t be so desperate that you’re willing to fall for anything. Being overweight is hard. You can’t lose your nerve though. Funding the swindlers responsible for producing this nonsense will only lead to more bogus products winding up in the marketplace. That’s the last thing we need.

When you come across a company that says their coffee will make you lose weight, run as fast as you can. You are better off going with the new, innovative solution of diet and exercise.

Facebook needs to do more to separate permanently closed businesses from the search results you get when you look for certain companies. Any time a user searches for a business they should only get the most relevant results. Why would they want to contact a business that has been closed for a long time? The ineffective nature of the Places search engine on Facebook makes me think that Facebook doesn’t want you to find businesses on their platform. I can see no other reason why Facebook would they go out of their way to deliver such an ineffective mechanism to the public.

I’m left completely stunned by companies that have all the expertise and financial resources in the world and still produce a product that’s a disaster. The popularity of a product is no excuse for its awe inspiring lack of quality. Saying that if you don’t like it, you shouldn’t use it is a foolish notion. When you’re dealing with a product that has such a monopoly over the marketplace, you have no choice but to use it. People are slowly falling away from Facebook, choosing to go with other resources or simply take the hit and not find a replacement.

Not enough people have left Facebook to make leaving it once and for all a worthwhile conclusion. We should not let our service providers get away with such blatant incompetence. We should bang on their doors until they make the changes needed to make using their product enjoyable. A company should not be able to use their size and prominence as a means to excuse their disregard for the quality of their product. Every organization should act no differently than they did when they first opened their doors. Losing sight of this perspective should be seen as a sign of a company’s upcoming obsolescence, not a permitted part of their life cycle.

I would love it if I could depend on Google as a means to locate the companies I’m trying to find. I have had some luck with this approach; however, the businesses are not stored into convenient categories. I am forced to bring them to the surface. This fact seems like a point about which I should not complain because of its low level of difficulty. In reality, searching for businesses is something that should be made simpler and more efficient rather than turned into a convoluted mess.